Motion
by DoctorPerky
Summary: She wanted nothing more than to stay still in her world, but he had different ideas. young!Sakamoto / young!Mutsu.


Gintama is owned by Hideaki Sorachi.

Enjoy!

* * *

Winter had just drawn to a close. The flowers were starting to bloom and a town that was once decorated with the empty space of thin tree branches began to fill with green foliage.

The plants weren't the only things to return to life. Little by little, the playground filled with the sounds of laughter and the excitement of the children who played there. They'd hang around after school, playing a myriad of games and partaking in simple little amusements, until their parents would come to walk them home. Some children would stay for only long enough for a quick game of tag; others would remain until the sun faded behind the trees. The children would leave mostly at random times depending on the day. Each day, regardless of who stayed and who left, there was one girl who always remained on the bench, often for long after the last child was picked up.

She always sat on the bench with a plainly adorned diary on her lap and a pen in one hand. Occasionally she'd receive glances from the other children, but no one dared to approach her; her relative aloofness was a quality that struck the others as quite intimidating.

* * *

_2nd March._

_Everyone is content.  
I am content._

_(Random doodles of flowers and clouds border the entry.)_

* * *

The next day was hot and sunny.

The sun beat relentlessly on the girl, who remained on the bench in her usual spot. Occasionally pushing aside her bangs and brushing away collections of sweat from her forehead, she continued to scribble randomly in her diary.

She was in the middle of drawing something strange (she didn't know what she was drawing, in fact) when she noticed a sudden weight thrust upon her head and her surroundings becoming strangely dark.

Slightly miffed, she removed the bowl-shaped woven hat and quickly glanced around the playground to see who placed this on her head. She couldn't immediately find anyone who she thought could have done this to her; she happened to lock her gaze on a suspicious boy with frizzy brown hair who was walking to the swings.

Sighing, she dismissed the whole notion of anyone placing the hat on her head out of kindness and, placing the hat aside on the bench, returned to her writing.

Shortly after, a slight breeze passed through the playground. The motion of the wind caused a faint flapping noise to emanate from the hat. Subtle as this noise was, the girl could still hear it, and this rustling annoyed her enough to glance over at the hat. Upon further inspection, she found a small sheet of paper attached to the inside edge. She pulled the note away from the weave and read the scribbles.

_You look hot. Take this hat. I found it nearby._

After having read the note, she glanced to the poofy-haired boy on the swings and heaved a sigh.

* * *

_3rd March._

_(weird... spaceship thing? Honestly, no one has a clue what she was trying to draw here.)_

_He's a weird one. At least, I think it was him.  
He left me a hat and then fell sick to heat exhaustion.  
_

_I don't need his pity, nor do I need anyone else's.  
He's better off worrying about his own stupid self._

_Still, this hat isn't half bad._

* * *

The day after, she found that her usual resting space on the bench was occupied by the fro-haired boy. She glanced at him with a half-disappointed expression, but proceeded to ignore him afterward and took her seat on the other end of the bench.

As she pulled the pen out from its place behind her ear, she heard the clamor of laughter from the same boy. She pretended she didn't hear him, as she thought his laughter was the most offensive noise she'd ever heard in her life. Not satisfied that the girl was completely ignoring him, he continued to laugh until he thought of something logical to say.

"Hey, hey. You're still wearing that hat I gave you yesterday. So you must like it-"

"If you know what's best for you, you'd shut up."

Finding her response to be utterly ridiculous, he began to continue with his grating, squeaky laughter.

"Aw, come on now. I only came over to find out the name of the girl I gave the hat to."

The intimidating glare she cast at him was enough to prompt him to leave the area. He returned to the swings, trembling the entire time as he walked the short path.

Later that evening, after all of the other children were picked up by their parents, only the boy and the girl remained. The boy continued to swing and the girl remained on the bench with her head tucked between her diary and the hat.

After some time, she closed her diary, tucked it away in her satchel, and nestled the pen behind her ear. She casually stood and turned away to leave the playground, only pausing for a moment.

"Hey, boy," she yelled.

The boy let his legs slack for a moment, thrown off guard by her attempt to get his attention.

"It's Mutsu."

"...Mutsu?"

"My name, idiot."

* * *

_4th March_

_I found the idiot who gave me the hat.  
He seems to have a death wish.  
He's not like the others here.  
Why can't he leave me alone?_

* * *

The next day, Mutsu was seated at the bench during the middle of the day when no one else would logically be around. Her diary was closed, the pen tucked behind her ear, and the hat and her knees, which were brought close to her body, hid her face quite well. The only indication that she was crying was in the damp spots on her knees, where her face was nestled against. She made no noise whatsoever as she remained on the bench, hidden inside her world.

She was so absorbed in her tears that she didn't notice the boy come out of the surrounding woods. His obnoxious laughter startled her, almost to the point where she had the urge to punch him. But, she was too upset to react to him. He seated himself at the edge of the bench and casually started to banter.

"I knew this is why I never see you in school."

She turned her head away from him, as if she was ashamed of what she was doing.

"You're no better for skipping right now," she muttered, wiping her eyes in a subtle manner. "W-what do you want anyway?"

His laughter ceased and his expression became stern and focused.

"M-Mutsu..."

She pretended not to look in his direction, though it was quite obvious that she was trying not to look at him. She couldn't help it, though; no one had ever said her name like that. No one had ever been concerned for her before.

"Mutsu, may I ask a question?"

She grunted in agreement.

"Why do you choose to spend so much time alone on that bench?"

She huffed. "Why do you choose to spend so much time on that swing? Why..." Her voice quivered as her eyes began to fill with tears again. "W-why do you sit on this bench with m-me?"

He smiled and laughed. "When I'm on the swings, I pretend I'm piloting a spaceship. I'm exploring the vast reaches of the universe. Pretty cool, huh? As for this bench..."

Placing his hand on his stomach, he cast his eyes downward and grimaced.

"...I sit here because if I swing for too long, I feel sick."

"A-and the h-hat?"

"I found it. Probably belonged to some old guy, and I was going to use it for myself. But you looked miserable."

"Y-you looked even worse..."

"Ahahahaha, well..." He ruffled his hair, trying to shake off the bad memory of his vomiting on the playground. "It was simply motion sickness, really."

"Don't talk to me anymore."

She stood and walked away from the bench in a hurry. In the process, however, her diary fell out of her lap and she didn't notice that it was missing.

The boy quickly scanned the playground to see if anyone else was there, and then he picked the diary up and tucked it away in his satchel. He ran after her to try to return it, but he failed.

Subsequently, he found himself in possession of a diary and, undoubtedly, the girl's crazy world.

* * *

_I'm moving again soon.  
I didn't make any friends here.  
It's better this way.  
I wouldn't have the pain of saying goodbye to them._

* * *

_I'm moving again soon.  
This is probably the last time we'll move.  
I regret not getting to know him better._

* * *

_Two more days.  
Why does my heart hurt?  
Why do I want to cry?  
Why do I finally feel lonely?_

_(random scribbles and doodles of what looks like rainbows, robots, stars, flowers, and a poofy-haired boy.)_

* * *

He sat on the porch of his house, glancing over various entries in the worn pages of the diary. However long she had this diary, it was a precious item to her. This was the only entity in the universe she could confide in, it seemed; yet, for him to peer through the many secrets held in the pages, he felt as if he was betraying her trust.

_As if she even could trust_ _a person_, he thought.

His mother came from behind silently as he was engrossed in experiencing the mysteries of the diary.

"Son."

He jumped.

"M-mom! What are you doing?"

"I'm letting you know that supper is ready."

"Thank you," he muttered.

She seated herself beside her son, who was on the verge of tears.

"Is everything okay?"

Closing the diary, he glanced up at her. "You know how I can trust you with everything, right? Like, how I talk to you about all kinds of stuff."

She nodded.

"Why can't everyone trust other people?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this diary belongs to a girl at the playground. And all she does while she's there is sit on the bench and write in it. She never wants to play." Fidgeting with the diary, he paused. "Today she was crying. I don't even know what she was crying over. She wouldn't tell me. But she told me never to talk to her again. To make matters worse, she left this diary behind. I tried to give it back to her, and-"

"-You read it and you shouldn't have."

Mutsu approached the two, slightly miffed that she had to track his steps to his house to retrieve her misplaced diary.

Before she went back into the house, his mother ruffled his hair and whispered, "I'll leave this up to you then."

–

"Mutsu..."

She approached him and seated herself next to him on the porch.

"I can explain-"

"It's alright. I should have told you sooner."

"But why-"

"I'm always moving around, and I'm tired of it. I just want to stay in one place for once. I want to have a normal childhood with friends and happy memories and stories to tell. I don't want to make new friends just to have to lose them. I don't want-"

At that moment, he pulled her close to him. His lips gently grazed hers, and in that moment all he could feel was his heart racing and his stomach gurgling.

Though their lips met for only a brief time, she too felt a myriad of strange effects. After she pulled away from him, her feathered bursts of breathing regulated into a normal rhythm and the moistness from her face evaporated. The weight of the loneliness in her heart had been lessened, as if balloons had been attached to that burden.

"W-what were you thinking?" she shrieked. As she realized that she received her first kiss from this boy, she felt a strange warmth radiate throughout her face accompanied by a faint blush color to match. The boy giggled as he noticed her reaction, and she promptly averted her eyes out of embarrassment.

"Mutsu, no one said you couldn't have a normal childhood with all those things you mentioned."

"I leave tomorrow."

"...Right."

The two remained on the porch and shared a few tales before he remembered that his supper awaited him. He begrudgingly reminded his friend that he had to go inside for the evening. Before he returned the diary to her, he rifled through its pages once more.

"I didn't read through the whole thing, you know."

"I wasn't expecting you to. Anyway, thank you for keeping my diary safe, for the hat, and for the memories."

He laughed and muttered a few unintelligible words while she gathered her belongings. As she approached the fence to exit his yard, she heard him yell back to her.

"It's Sakamoto."

She paused and turned to face him.

"Huh?"

"Sakamoto. My name."

Grinning, she tipped her hat.

"Right. Until we meet again, Sakamoto."

As she secured the latch of the fence, a smile, forged from the expectation that she'd meet him again, warmed her face.


End file.
